Tag: linux

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Linux for work? Not Arch.

Hi,

I wanted to test some software I work with on Arch Linux to see  how it runs on this bleeding edge rolling Linux distribution. So I did an Arch install which was a bit more complicated than I’m used to but didn’t take much time. It was fun have the latest (but not greatest I found out) of everything from desktop environment through kernel to applications. But I soon ran into trouble. To be able to run the software I was testing I needed older versions of a couple of libraries. Not old, just a little older than bleeding edge and had to fiddle around being able to install those. I got it working and started testing the application. While doing this I used the computer like I normally do. I connected to my network and needed an HP printer to work. That was not easy! There were all these little problems I am not used to have to deal with on Linux these days. And since I was actually working I simply didn’t have time for that kind of thing anymore. Gone are the days where I spent my weekends on getting printing and wireless to work on Linux. These days I just need it to work. Now. right now!

I started looking at Arch forums for solutions and if I did this that and the other I might get things to work. The Arch Wiki is also an incredible source of information if you have the time to read it. The geek in me was interested in the challenge, but I had work to do and simply couldn’t spend it on this.

As soon as I had confirmed that the software was testing ran and worked on Arch I was back on Ubuntu GNOME which is my platform of choice. And I must say it was a relief. No thrill, no bleeding edge, but nothing I needed to fix, chat about or read forum threads to figure out. I guess my point is that Arch Linux is a fun distribution, but it requires your attention and a lot of what I do not have these days, time! It was exciting working on a rolling distribution with updates almost every day and a new kernel a few minutes after Linus has released it. But for work, no go. However, I am pleased to notice that there are Linux flavors out there that you can install and get work done on in 30 minutes. It all just works. Even printers and scanner are detected and set up in seconds and it’s easy to connect to networks directly from the file manager.

So if you are a Linux thrill seeker go Arch. If you, like me, need work done something like Ubuntu or Mint is the way to go. At least based on my recent experience. I know that there are many who would disagree with me, but so be it. I’m sure that if I spent time on it I could live with Arch, but I’m just not into that kind of thing anymore. 

 

 

Posted on

Browsers on Linux.

As a long time Linux user finding a good and stable web browser have always been important. I used Opera for Linux since v. 7 and was happy with it up to v 12.x. It was my browser, e-mail client and even Usenet news and IRC client.  I could do it all in Opera. Then Opera started lagging behind and I was looking for other options. The two obvious ones were Google Chrome and Firefox. Firefox as the default browser on most major Linux distributions was first of course and I used it for a while without problems. Then Adobe was dropping Flash for Linux and I started having problems with certain Flash based content. I decided to try Chromium and also Chrome and it ended up becoming my new default browser. After some time I ended up Chrome since Chromium also had Flash problems while Chrome has it’s own Pepper Flash implementation making sure you always have the latest version available. Chrome worked very well on Linux and synced without problem between computers and to my Android phone.

Then after a trivial Chrome update the browser stopped working. And since a browser is a piece of software that needs to work all the time I freaked out and went Firefox again but soon got stuck on a site that needed the latest and greatest Flash which Firefox couldn’t offer. I looked for a solution and found a way to get Pepper Flash from Chrome to work in Firefox through a wrapper application. But I still had problems with sites that detected the wrapper and wouldn’t play. Now what? It turned out that the non working Chrome was fixed after a few days and I could return to my prefered browser. 

I had been reading about Google’s Aura graphics stack which replaced GTK+ on Linux, and got it whether I wanted it or not with a recent update. I use Gnome-Shell and was going to install a couple of extensions to my desktop, but no, that didn’t work anymore in Chrome with Aura. Back to Firefox to do that and it works. I then thought I would simply use Firefox again for a while but found out that I for some reason do not have full hardware acceleration working with my graphics card. It turns out it is because Firefox blacklists computers with dual graphics cards like mine has even if one of them has been disabled. In Chrome I have full hardware acceleration, but can’t install Gnome-Shell extensions. 

Finding the perfect browser on Linux has been nearly impossible since I left Opera 12.x, and I’m pretty sure it will continue to be a matter of small compromises until one browser vendor gets it right, or a new shiny browser comes along supporting Linux perfectly. I’m not sure what is most likely to happen.